Season of Giving
The season of giving.
The Christmas season often is referred to as the season of giving, and with good reason. More people contribute to or volunteer at churches, homeless shelters, food banks and other charitable organizations during the holiday season than any other time of year.
There is no shortage of needs to fill or opportunities to serve. From coat drives to angel trees to Salvation Army collection buckets, opportunities to give back to the community are everywhere.
These are all wonderful ways to serve others, but sometimes God calls us to step out of our comfort zones and serve in new and creative ways.
Here are some ideas on ways to love where you are this Christmas season.
Piercings are popular.
Piercings are popular.
It started with the ear lobe . . . and worked its way up . . . and down.
But piercing is not new. And it did not come from good or noble precedent.
The notoriously vicious Assyrians, in ancient times, took their captives home by inserting a hook through the cheeks of those captives. Keep up, or else, as you are dragged along!
In fact, many cultures, ancient and modern “marked” their captives as slaves by a ring in the nose or ear. It was always the sign of an ultimate death penalty.
How to show Gratitude.
How to express gratitude this thanksgiving season.
First Thessalonians 5:16-18 declares, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Take just a minute to reflect on this simple verse. Do you want to know God's will for your life? It says right here that it is to "give thanks." This seems so simple, and yet so often, we don't take the time to stop long enough to thank God for all the things He's blessed us with-the things we deem to be "good" and even the things we might not like at the time.
Saved by the Blood of an Overcomer
”SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF AN OVERCOMER!" Louis Pasteur's co-worker in the demonstration of what used to be called the "germ-theory" was Dr. Felix Ruh, a Jewish doctor in Paris. The physician's granddaughter died of black diphtheria, and Dr. Ruh, vowing that he would find out what killed his granddaughter, locked himself in his laboratory for days. He emerged with a fierce determination to prove, with his colleague Louis Pasteur, that the "germ theory" was more than a theory. The Medical Association had disapproved of Pasteur and had succeeded in getting him exiled, but he did not go far from Paris.
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